OCC CIV NOTES 10/27

English Civil Wars 1642-6, 1648
1645 New Model Army/ Debates over sovereignty, natural (native) rights
Execution of Charles I 1649/Declaration of Republic/Abolition of House of Lords
Abolition of Church of England's Monopoly on religion/Growth of Protestant sects/Including presbyterians, congregationists, quakers, baptists
Collapse of press censorship/debates over all hierarchies-social, religious, political, gender

in 1640, england had a hereditary monarchy, with a small group of hereditary nobles (60-150), and ~15,000 gentlemen
-population was ~5 million
-had a significant middling group as well (yoman farmers, etc)
-vast majority of the population was dirt poor
-since the poor had nothing at all, not even food for themselves, they could never make any money
-once you have enough food to have even a tiny bit of surplus, you can sell it during famine, and make big bucks
-this means the middle and upper classes can actually profit off of famine
-enclosure starts up around this time as well
-much more efficient than communal farming
-even though the middle class is gaining economic power (by selling food in famine), it's not gaining any political power
-england had a bicameral system, house of lords (hereditary) and house of commons (elected)
-house of commons had very limited franchise- you need a certain amount of property, a certain amount of status in the town/city, etc
English monarchy was extremely powerful
-king had the power to enforce law, appoint people, remove them, etc
-however, he LACKED a certain amount of power
-kings lack the power to tax, this must come from the parliament
-as a consequence of this, the monarchy was constantly short of money
-king also doesn't have the power to appoint the juries in a court, even if the judge is
-king tries all sorts of things to raise money, cause he really really needs it
-one such practice was forced loans- you loan me money or i throw you in jail
-misdirection also employed (give me money to build ships! gets money, builds banquet halls)
There is another religious divide
-even though the official church is protestant, large parts of culture were still catholic, presbyterian, etc
-Puritans believe that the church of england is corrupt, needs reform
-some peace out to go to america
-some stay in england, try to reform the church
-they see that the church promotes a carnivalesque, idle, and poor lifestyle
-they can't reform, because the king (head of the church) won't reform
-king won't reform because he himself is idle, etc
-they HUGELY oppose the king
-when the King has to call a parliament (he's forced by angry scots), its a bad thing...
-sends anglican bishops to scotland, they have to be armed in the pulpits to stay alive
-calls parliament, concedes to every single one of the political demands, none of the religious ones, also wants to have a standing army
-parliament refuses the army, calls up its own army
-civil war starts!
-parliament creates the 'new model army' during the first civil war (1642-6)
-new model army- opens up the ranks to non-nobles, extremely religiously radical, is a NATIONAL army, not a regional army
-parliament is RETARDED... doesn't PAY THE ARMY...
-HE SAID 'YE GODS!!!!' YE GODS!!!!
-army gets angry. starts killing shit
-parliament sees this. makes ANOTHER mistake. starts to disband the army WITHOUT PAYING IT
-the LEVELERS are another big group, explains the civil war
-they're huge proponents of natural or native rights
-the people elect 'agents' to defend their view of what they've been fighting for.
-1647 a document is published with the agreement of the agents and people
-essentially is a proposal for a written constitution based on natural rights
-believed that the people in general should have franchise, not just the wealthy
-believed that the representative assembly (house of commons) should have supreme authority
-believed that the law should apply equally to all subjects, and they also have the entitlement to dissent from government policy (including religious worship)
-the Putney Debates are held to talk about this shit
-the leveler send representatives
-the rank and file officers of the army send reps
-the noble officers send reps
-BUT!!! if we're all gonna be equal, what happens to individual property?
-cromwell and the other nobles argue that if the commoners are enfranchised, then they'd surely take away property, take away property rights
-levelers (rainsborough) argue for total male democracy
-argues 'why should we respect property since it comes from tyranny anyways?' (norman conquest of 1066 gave most landowners their lands)
-debate breaks up after rainsborough calls a general assembly of the army
-at that moment, the king escapes from custody, another civil war starts
-in this civil war, solidarity is more important than ideological squabbles
-there are a few mutinies, but cromwell brutally suppresses them
-there's another year of civil war. good stuff